


Worth the Trouble

by soundlolgic



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2013-03-15
Packaged: 2017-12-05 08:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundlolgic/pseuds/soundlolgic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Between training and debuting, Kyungsoo unravels the mystery that is Kim Jongin in stages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth the Trouble

The first time they had met, neither had left an impression on the other. Kyungsoo stood alongside Lu Han and a couple of other new trainees as they were being introduced to a room full of blurry-eyed boys and girls. He bowed dutifully as his name was announced, cheeks burning as he felt appraising eyes on him. Words could not have possibly gotten out that he, along with Lu Han, were casted; yet, Kyungsoo almost cowered under heavy stares. The atmosphere was foreign, and countless singing competitions still could not prepare Kyungsoo for the weight of judgment pushing down from the peers in front of him. He sidestepped into Lu Han as he straightened up. Somehow the other’s sunny smile set Kyungsoo’s thumping heart at ease.  
Jongin was one of few who did not care. As the newbies trailed the guide out of the practice room Jongin bounced up and started stretching.

There were talks among management, not quite discreet conversations that trickled down to trainees’ ears. There were discussions to debut a new act. Nobody really knew what kind of act, a boy group, a girl group, or a solo act. The rumors riled them all up just the same.  
Jongin noticed the way Joonmyun always stood at the front of dance practice these day, always in front of Jinno, shoulders rigid and movements forced. After the newcomers’ introduction, Joonmyun seemed even more on edge. He stood by himself, taking slow, deep breaths before moving toward his usual spot, brushing the tall Chinese trainee, Wu Fan, without apologizing.  
With all of them together, the practice room contracted and pinched at corners and edges. They all made do, even with the fact that only a small number of them would eventually upgrade to the cloud room upstairs. That small percentage had just decreased, again, with the recent event. It was sort of an unspoken rule, that casted trainees were more likely to debut, having caught the scouts’ eyes for incidentally fitting a planned concept. Some of them in this room might have been lucky enough to pass multiple auditions, could have trained their entire adolescence without ever going beyond these doors.

Jongin auditioned, succeeded, held his ground among his peers. Training was never boring, during long nights dancing his tired limbs into wee hours with another Chinese trainee, Yi Xing. Yi Xing was different from the others, arriving at SM door with a purpose and for all the time Jongin had known and danced with him, Yi Xing’s goal never wavered. Jongin figured that was how they were able to get on well enough. With Yi Xing Jongin could leave petty gossips and crippling self doubts at the door. With Yi Xing there were only too loud music and crisps movements of fluid arms and fast legs, the pool of sweat that gathered and vaporized as they lied panting on chill wooden floor. Jongin knew what he wanted, knew the extent of his ability and above all else, he had always believed that he would get there someday.

On Kyungsoo’s second day at the agency, both he and Lu Han were pulled aside and for the first time Kyungsoo learned about Kim Jongin and his alleged cocksure attitude and flippant arrogance. He scanned the section of the room within direct line of vision of the older trainees they were talking to, putting a face to the name.  
*  
The second time they had met, Kyungsoo stared wide-eyed as Jongin pulled a fast punch to the side of Lu Han’s face. It was a split-second mood change. One moment Lu Han was edging too close to Jongin, the next he was hitting the floor with a dull thud. It was a split-second decision when Kyungsoo sprang to Lu Han’s side, one hand across the older boy’s chest, face meeting Jongin’s eyes dead straight.  
“I told you to stop.” Jongin gritted through his teeth and shoved Yi Xing and Wu Fan out of the way as he marched out of the silent room.  
The entire room collectively started to breathe again, a small crowd gathered around Lu Han. Sehun, a new trainee, offered him a hand.  
“I’m ok,” Lu Han said, still cheery, even as red started to roll down his nostrils.  
Joonmyun handed him a box of tissue and ushered him away to the bathroom, Yi Xing behind them.  
Sehun looked thoughtfully to the direction of the door way, long after Lu Han’s party had left.  
“You guys go to the same school don’t you?” Kyungsoo came to stand next to him.  
Sehun snapped his head quickly toward Kyungsoo and licked his lips. “We do. He isn’t like this usually hyung.” Sehun was between a smile and a scowl as he quickly added the last part. He started ruffling his own hair and turned to the door again. “Maybe I should go get him, break time is almost over.”  
“You know where he went?” Kyungsoo turned large inquisitive eyes to Sehun.  
The younger shrugged. “I can guess.”  
“I’ll go with you.” Kyungsoo tugged at Sehun’s arm.  
Split-second impulses.  
The third time they had met, on the rooftop, was the first time Kyungsoo really looked at Jongin. Droopy eyes, tight lips, greasy hair. He wondered how Jongin was like usually.  
Jongin cocked his head slightly upon finding Kyungsoo with Sehun. He eyed Kyungsoo for a brief moment before nodding at Sehun.  
“Is he ok?” Jongin rubbed his eyes tiredly with the balls of his palms.  
“He said so. So just come back in, teachers will be back soon.” Sehun took a step closer, just shy of Jongin’s arm reach.  
“Soon,” Jongin waved vaguely at them. “You should get back.”  
Sehun hesitated for a beat, dragging his foot forward but eventually turning around. He shrugged at Kyungsoo a second time, eyebrows furrowing.  
Kyungsoo didn’t follow him. Sehun waited at the stairs before huffing and hopping away. Kyungsoo strode forward, the rubber of his soles scrunching away the small debris on the roof. Jongin did not react as Kyungsoo closed the distance between them. He stopped as his thigh was inches away from Jongin’s shirt sleeve. He could almost feel the static in the small space between them.  
“Tell him I’m sorry. Please.” Jongin adjusted his tone as he remembered who he was talking to, an almost stranger.  
Kyungsoo shook his head, “No.”  
“Then why are you still here?” Jongin whipped to the side to glare at him, though his tired eyes made it look as though he was about to cry.  
“I’m Do Kyungsoo.” He blurted. The words tumbled and bounced, somehow heating up the tips of his ears.  
Jongin narrowed his eyes at him, the bags underneath bunching and popping out even more prominently. It was an early autumn evening, the sun was slowly setting far away and the wind picked up, prickling the back of Kyungsoo’s neck. He pushed on, “You should apologize to Lu Han hyung yourself,” wishing Jongin would punch him already so this issue could be dropped.  
Jongin propped one hand on his knee and leaned his head into it. He gnawed at his bottom lip.  
A particularly strong gust of wind blew past and Kyungsoo’s hair was attacking his eyes and mouth and he faltered backward. As he struggled to put everything back into place Jongin pushed himself up and away. Holding his hair down with both hands, Kyungsoo eyed Jongin’s back disappearing behind closed door and exhaled sharply. He found his breath racing to catch up with his heart beat.  
Lu Han turned to a group of sprawling boys and asked aloud, “Does my nose look crooked to you?” Sehun and Yi Xing started cackling. Lu Han turned the other way instead, looking at Minseok and Kyungsoo. “Is it crooked?”  
“I can set it back for you.” Jongin loomed behind Lu Han and nudged him with his knee.  
Lu Han turned around with desperate, gooey eyes. “So it is crooked?”  
Sehun was having spasms on the floor at this point. Jongin coolly edged on, “Better grab some tissue hyung, here comes the right hook.” Lu Han shrieked and dived for Kyungsoo’s lap. Kyungsoo threw himself on top of the older and pursed his lips at Jongin.  
Jongin clicked his tongue in fake annoyance and dived down for Lu Han, determined to turn two wrongs into a right for the sake of Lu Han’s nose. Lu Han squirmed from under Kyungsoo and Jongin pressed in from the side. Kyungsoo started laughing until Jongin grabbed both his wrists and pried them away from Lu Han. He gasped under his breath when Jongin’s cheek brushed past his open lips. Jongin tipped him on his side and he fell into Minseok. Jongin’s useless mass settled on top of him.  
Lu Han was long gone by now, running to Joonmyun to escape Jongin’s wrath. Jongin placed a hand on Kyungsoo’s hip to push himself up and continued the chase. Kyungsoo was glad Minseok had joined in the raucous laughter because he was warm all over, heart jumping around in his chest a second time.

At this point, Kyungsoo reckoned Kim Jongin was, in fact, problematic (to his cardio activities.)  
*  
“Do you hang out with Jongin at school?” Kyungsoo inquired as Sehun reached over for another bite of his lunch. He pushed the entire plate to Sehun.  
“Not really. We’re in different grades remember? He has his own crowd of people.” Sehun answered between mouthfuls of beef. Kyungsoo pushed his water over too.  
“Why do you ask though?” Sehun finally addressed the elephant in the room and Kyungsoo took back his water bottle for a small sip.  
“Lu Han hyung didn’t even get mad at him.”  
“He hardly ever gets mad?”  
“If I punched you in the face and then offered to right your nose we’d still be friends?”  
“You don’t hit people though?”  
Kyungsoo took back his plate of beef and Sehun whined, “That’s just how Jongin is. Why don’t you go talk to him instead?”  
Sehun bit down on his pair of chopsticks, grabbed his rice and Kyungsoo’s beef and moved over to the table where Lu Han was sitting too close to Jongin, both were smiling.

Kyungsoo did not learn anything useful from Oh Sehun.  
*  
The fourth time they had any sort of close interaction, they were moving into the dorm together, roommates.  
The one year Kyungsoo had been with the agency had been a whirlwind. He experienced being on the other side of the practice room as new trainees rushed in and out, the wave of adrenaline as news of M1 and M2 solidified over the media, the wild beating of his heart as he went over vocal exercises with Joonmyun, Baekhyun and Jongdae in a small studio, just the four of them before their vocal coach arrived. The future was not crystal clear, but he was moving toward something. The only thing left to conquer was to fit himself in seamlessly with eleven other boys that would be on this team with him.

When Kyungsoo pushed the door of their shared room open with his back, hands clutching and pulling his luggage, he nearly tripped over Jongin’s suitcase, situated neatly at the doorway, blocking any way in or out. Kyungsoo clucked and nudged the pink polka dot case with his foot.  
Jongin emerged from the closet and smiled at him dumbly. “Sorry.”  
While Jongin scrambled to push and shove his belongings to the side, away from the main entrance, Kyungsoo took the opportunity to look around their shared room. He winced.  
It was a medium sized room, comfortable enough for two people. Except at the moment it was cluttered and closed in as boxes stacked high and Jongin’s things spilled on the bunk bed, on the floor, hanging haphazardly on the closet door. Kyungsoo looked around and counted to ten before heading to the other side of the room, away from Jongin’s disaster zone. He continued his counting exercise as he methodically unpacked, sorting his clothes in neat color coding piles on the bottom bed. He relentlessly kept his back turned against Jongin’s side, tuning out the shuffling of feet, working until the rays of sunlight disappeared one by one from the horizon.  
When all his notebooks, phone charger, computer found snug spots on his bed and on the bedside table, he wiped his forehead and sighed happily over folded arms.  
“Impressive,” Jongin sauntered over. He pointed at Kyungsoo’s pajamas, “I like Pororo.” Jongin’s smile was full of teeth, lips stretching in earnest.  
“My older brother gave me those.” Kyungsoo tried to salvage his image, stacking the pile of jeans on top of his sleepwear. The color contrast bothered him so he separated them again.  
“Well are you done with the closet? I want to put my things awa- Oh God...”  
Jongin scratched his neck and chuckled nervously. Kyungsoo turned to him horrified, eyes impossibly large and mouth hanging open. Jongin had to bite his lips; Kyungsoo looked like an offended kitty, cute even when annoyed. It might have been too rude to laugh however, when Kyungsoo was about to have a meltdown at the mess Jongin had made outside their closet.  
The boxes were empty and collapsed into flat cardboards, leaning on the wall. The content on the other hand, laid all over the floor and covered up any possible walking space. Jongin’s clothes laid wrinkled in a lump, as if they were never folded but simply tossed into the suitcase and now dumped out.  
“What have you been doing for the last hours?” Kyungsoo jabbed a finger toward the battlefield. Jongin glanced at the flattened boxes resting against the wall, he chuckled quietly again.  
Kim Jongin was kind of a mess, a useless mess, with a mess of a smile rivaling that of Lu Han’s.

They skipped dinner and spent the rest of the evening with Kyungsoo nagging as he cleaned up and seemingly willed open spaces to store all of Jongin’s “junk”, Jongin trailing behind like an eager puppy, handing Kyungsoo things or storing boxes away on heights Kyungsoo could not reach.  
At midnight, they stood side by side to marvel their new room, every nook and cranny organized. Jongin swung a satisfied arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “We did good work.” He winked and smiled with teeth.  
Kyungsoo blinked up, mouth slightly agape. He remembered a time, so long ago, when he witnessed Kim Jongin socking Lu Han, eyes red, and Sehun’s soft words, “He’s not usually like that.” Tonight, Jongin’s light pink polka dot suitcase sat at the end of their bunk bed next to Kyungsoo’s black fabric one and Jongin was acting childishly smug like he was the one slaving away the whole evening.  
Kyungsoo quickly closed his mouth and patted Jongin’s hand. “You were most helpful,” then rolled his eyes exasperatedly.  
Jongin backed away slowly. “Hyung, do you sleep with your eyes open?”  
Kyungsoo took to chasing Jongin around with his eyes the size of saucers. They watched Pororo on Kyungsoo’s computer that night and Jongin only went to sleep when he confirmed that yes, Kyungsoo did indeed close his eyes in sleep.

At the end of the day, Kyungsoo gathered, albeit messy, sometimes childish, Kim Jongin was actually quite easy going, had a debatable sense of humor, but mostly smiled a lot (cute smile too.)  
*  
Living in a dorm with five other boys was not too bad. The others learned to live with Kyungsoo’s nagging and his regular bouts of cleaning. He learned to cook the most delicious greasy food that even their managers could not say no to. He also learned to sneak ample amount of snack into his and Jongin’s shared room, because Jongin’s appetite knew no bound, especially on nights when they absolutely had to catch up on the latest Pororo episode. Sehun dragged himself into their room at odd hours of night and rolled on Kyungsoo until Kyungsoo got up to make him a midnight snack. He always ended up making a meal for two because Jongin would somehow end up at the dining table, sitting opposite of Sehun and telling senseless jokes that Sehun ignored. Kyungsoo was the only one who laughed. More often than not they got into small bickering about how Jongin’s portion was always a little bit more than Sehun’s.

Sharing a room with Kim Jongin was a daily learning experience.

Kyungsoo found that, firstly, Jongin was stingy with skinship. He patted the other boys’ backs, offered a hand to Joonmyun when the other fell from a particularly complicated dance step, let Sehun hang onto his arm at the dorm. Yet he rarely hugged anyone, even when Lu Han or Chanyeol pulled him over by the waist. Second, the five of them, Kyungsoo, Joonmyun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun and their two managers drew lots on days when Jongin needed to be woken up early. As Sehun described it to Tao, “He turns into real life Krong, like, he actually grows pointy teeth and sharp claws.”

Lastly, Kyungsoo was the exception to all of the above.

Jongin back-hugged Kyungsoo and tried to mask it as a tickle bout, putting on a front about being hungry and, “Can hyung just please make me some food?” when just five minutes prior Kyungsoo had to stuff a large, empty bag of chips into the bottom of the trash bag. He hi-fived Joonmyun and pulled Kyungsoo in by the neck in celebration of a video game win against Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun’s team. When Joonmyun’s arm lingered too long on his waist Jongin pulled away to “grab some water.”  
The best way to wake Jongin in the morning was to play a prank on him. Kyungsoo tried out a trick Sehun suggested but never had the gall to pull on Jongin; he pressed his phone to Jongin’s face then played a recording of Lu Han’s shrieking amped up several pitches right over Jongin’s ear. Jongin stirred and turned bloodshot eyes at him. Five minutes later they were all dressed and on their way to the company headquarter.  
“Anybody else would have gotten a punch in the face,” Sehun duly noted. Kyungsoo shrugged at him and hurried ahead so Jongin, sleepy and disoriented, could hold onto his shoulders instead of walking into morning traffic.  
Towing Jongin to the company, Kyungsoo wondered if he, Do Kyungsoo, sometimes caused Jongin cardio problems too.  
*  
They all lapsed into a shared rhythm of dance practice, vocal training, language classes and company meetings, sometimes separately, sometimes all together. 

One night, Jongin pushed into their room late, carelessly dropping his bag and crashing into Kyungsoo’s bed. He squirmed until his head was resting on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, wet hair splayed on the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck. The familiar musky mixture of sweat and worn wooden floor wafted over and hung above Kyungsoo. Too strong. Too close. Too sudden. In his half muddled state, Kyungsoo wondered if this was how he would spend the rest of his life, with Jongin constantly in his personal space until the air itself was Jongin and Kyungsoo could think of nothing else. He tried to move his shoulder. “Jongin. Shower.” Jongin grunted in response. The next remark came before Kyungsoo had time to think about it. “Are you hungry?” Jongin attempted to shake his head, nose digging into Kyungsoo’s shirt. Jongin inhaled deeply.  
“You smell good hyung.”  
“It’s the detergent,” Kyungsoo reached over to pat Jongin’s hair.  
Jongin wiggled closer and Kyungsoo adjusted his position so Jongin’s face fitted into the junction of his head and shoulder. He freed a hand from under the blanket to wrap around Jongin. The night was too quiet, the body lying in his bed was still and felt entirely too small.  
“Am I no good?” came a quiet whisper.  
Kyungsoo opened his eyes. Moonlight filtered through the window blind into their room, falling on Jongin’s form in stripes of grey and black. Kyungsoo wanted to sew the pieces together. He brushed fingertips over Jongin’s strong arm. Jongin shivered.  
“I got a code name,” Jongin said in even tone. “You guys are going to refer to me by Kai from now on.”  
Kyungsoo worked a rhythm up and down Jongin’s arm. “It’s catchy.”  
“Nobody else on our team got a stage name.”  
“Well, we have a Suho hyung.”  
“There’s meaning to his name, hyung.” Jongin turned abruptly on his back. “Isn’t Jongin good enough? Am I too much? I have to be another person for the fans? To have fans? What about free will?”  
Kyungsoo swallowed. He wanted to tell Jongin that it was only the beginning, that soon enough there would be many other things they would not have a say in. He tipped his head on the side instead, hooking the arm Jongin was lying on to tilt Jongin’s head so their eyes met in the dark.  
“It’s just a name. You don’t have to be another person. Kai is Jongin. Jongin is perfectly fine.”  
They were maybe a hand length away from each other, the proximity warming both their faces.  
“You always call me a brat, hyung.”  
“Well, a very stubborn brat. But I like you enough.”  
Jongin lifted a corner of his lips. “That’s because hyung has bad taste.”  
Kyungsoo dramatically rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”  
Jongin set his mouth back in a straight line, pupils expanded, boring deep gazes into Kyungsoo’s eyes. “Jongin is ok?”  
“Always.”  
Since the first time we’d fought and made up, the first time you tried my food, the first time you offered to stay behind in the dance studio with me, the first time you smiled at me, probably as far back as that day on the roof, Kyungsoo wanted to say. His stomach did an unexpected twist as he became too aware, again, of the little space separating them, of Jongin’s droopy eyes and chapped lips. Kyungsoo fake yawned and brought a hand in between them to cover his mouth, shaking his other arm out from under Jongin’s head.  
“Ok, bedtime.”  
“Hyung, I’m hungry.” Jongin scratched his head and chuckled lamely.  
After a long suffering sigh Kyungsoo kicked Jongin off the bed and rolled out himself. Jongin scrambled off the floor to avoid Kyungsoo’s feet, snorting and giggling. At the door, Jongin grabbed Kyungsoo’s wrist before he could turn the doorknob and leaned in to peck his cheek, except Kyungsoo turned in indignation and in a flurry of movements, their lips met. Kyungsoo’s heart skipped in horror, lips quivering. Upon realizing that Jongin would not move - in fact, Jongin had tilted his head and secured a hand behind Kyungsoo’s head - Kyungsoo strained his eyes shut and allowed Jongin the lead. 

Kyungsoo found falling into Kim Jongin easy, entirely too easy.  
*  
“Kyungsoo hyung!”  
“D.O”  
“Huh?”  
“It’s D.O from now on, Jon-, Kai-yah” Kyungsoo thumbed up from the other side of the practice room. Jongin knitted his eyebrows. 

“Very clever,” Chanyeol commented on Kyungsoo’s new stage name when they were all gathering together in the middle of the studio for lunch.  
“Mhm not really, hyung just has really bad taste,” Jongin aimed a toothy grin at Kyungsoo. He spent the rest of the day calling Kyungsoo by his alias anyway. The rest of the group joined in. Before long even “Kris”, “Xiu Min”, “Chen” and “Lay” did not feel too foreign anymore.  
Jongin went to sleep that night muttering “Kai” and “Deeoh” and found both rolling off his tongue rather nicely. He peeked over his bunk bed and whispered loudly, “Deeoh hyung.”  
Kyungsoo stirred and moaned into his blanket, “You hungry again?”  
“Nah, I just like saying your name.”  
“Ok. Kai. Good night.”  
Jongin blew a wet air kiss at Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo kicked his mattress.  
*  
They finally debuted at the end of spring, after countless filming sessions, overnight dance practices and too few brief kisses. Kyungsoo remembered the day the first teaser was released, his voice crooned My Lady in the background as Kai chased the notes with precise, over practiced turns and bends. They watched the video together on Kyungsoo’s bed, lying flushed against each other on their stomachs, arms hooked. Kyungsoo hummed along with the tune while Jongin’s fingers drummed on his knuckles. When the screen went black, Jongin tilted his chin for a deep kiss, mouthing “We did it.”  
*  
Kyungsoo liked watching Jongin dance, it was like watching a butterfly spring forth from a cocoon, energy and aesthetic blending together effortlessly. He enjoyed the dances from Kai’s solo teasers the most, when Jongin was so deep in his elements Kyungsoo wanted to watch him dance forever. Jongin as Kai mesmerized Kyungsoo.  
Most pictures of Kai came out cold and aloof, fans called him mysterious. Kyungsoo would always laugh along with Sehun at the flood of “tall, dark and sexy” comments about Jongin. After all, this Kai on the computer screen was the same person who used to watch Pororo on Kyungsoo’s bed.  
“Being Kai isn’t too hard after, right?”  
“Easy for you to say hyung. It’s not like you try very hard to be D.O except when you make faces on stage,” Jongin quipped from his bed.  
Kyungsoo aimed a kick at the mattress where he estimated Jongin’s ass would be. “You make faces too you know.”  
“The sexy ones.”  
Kyungsoo snorted and almost choked on his spit. He made a show out of wheezing and gagging for a bit, stopping when he realized Jongin had already fallen asleep.  
“Good night sexy Jongin.” Kyungsoo whispered to the space between him and Jongin’s bed, pulling the blanket higher on himself. Jongin had been staying later at the company, coming home beat and climbing immediately to bed. Kyungsoo did not want to bring it up, but he missed the smell of musk lingering on Jongin’s hair and the warmth of Jongin’s breath next to him. Jongin as Kai could be distant sometimes.  
Inside the salon, the make up artist clucked as she wiped yesterday foundation off of Jongin’s cheeks with a napkin, complaining about oil residue on his skin and pimple break-outs. The moment the natural bronze returned to Jongin’s cheek, a new layer of foundation was caked on, blending away little blemishes and Jongin’s imperfections. Kyungsoo glanced over from his chair two seats away, trying not to move too much at the risk of pressing his cheek against the curling iron his hairstylist was wrapping around his tresses. He could hardly make out the expression on Jongin’s face between the steam and spray enveloping him, only Jongin’s apologetic chuckle. Kyungsoo pursed his lips, if only he could tell her that no, they didn’t even have time to sleep, let alone time to indulge in facials. His stylist deftly righted his head.  
When Kyungsoo could finally walk over, Jongin was made up and groomed to a T.  
“Hyung, guess who I am,” Jongin lowered his eyelashes and lifted a corner of his mouth.  
Kyungsoo fake swooned, “I have no idea.”  
“I’m Kai of course,” Jongin said with a hair flip, leaning back into his chair and crossing his legs. Kyungsoo howled, “Chanyeol! Baekhyun! Sehun! Come get a load of this!”

No amount of grooming or make up however, could mask the pain on Jongin’s face when his muscle pinched and pain seared across his lower back. Jongin showed little of it in front of the fans, but as soon as recording was over Jongin was backstage with a hand pressed on his back and the other holding gingerly onto Kyungsoo. At times like this, Kyungsoo found Kai so vulnerable.

Pictures of Jongin’s hot pad covered back started spreading online and fans’ supported messages started flooding into all their fansites. Kyungsoo took to meticulously printing and cutting out the cutest messages, pasting them all in a huge card. He then made the round in the dorm and collected everybody’s signatures, from the members, their managers and even the cleaning lady that only came in on Thursdays. Lu Han texted him a picture of all of EXO M’s get well wishes to Jongin. That went in the card too.  
At night when the tossing and turning on the top bunk stilled, Kyungsoo rolled quietly out of his bed and stuck the card on the side of Jongin’s bed, bottom tucked into the mattress. That would be the first thing Jongin would see in the morning (or late afternoon) when he woke.  
*  
Jongin kept the card under his pillow, long after his back had healed.  
On good days he pulled it out and had Kyungsoo read aloud all the messages as he lazed with his head on Kyungsoo’s stomach. “That was your message wasn’t it hyung. How corny. Hyung has such horrible taste, we need to fix this.”  
Kyungsoo dropped the card on Jongin’s face and sighed with gusto. “I think I like it better when you’re Kai. You don’t talk much when you’re Kai.”  
Jongin immediately moved the piece of paper away from his face to fix Kyungsoo with a smoldering stare followed by a clumsy hair flip. Kyungsoo proceeded to suffocate him with a pillow. Jongin rolled off Kyungsoo’s bed laughing like a seal, crescent eyes almost sending Kyungsoo into a cardiac arrest.  
“Hey hyung.” Jongin climbed back up, “Kiss me.”  
Kim Jongin was smug, entitled, and a menace to Kyungsoo’s well being, but he was worth the trouble, so Kyungsoo kissed him anyway.


End file.
